Archives for September 2013

Over the next century, most of the continents are on track to become considerably warmer, with more hot extremes and fewer cold extremes. Precipitation will increase in some parts of the world but will decrease in other parts. These are some of the conclusions reached by authors of the recently released Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Michael Wehner of the Computational Research Division and William Collins of the Earth Sciences Division were lead authors of the chapters on long-term climate change projections and climate models, respectively. More>

For the second year in a row, a faculty scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division has been named a recipient of the prestigious W.K.H. Panofsky Prize, awarded annually by the American Physical Society to recognize outstanding achievements in experimental particle physics. Kam-Biu Luk, a professor with UC Berkeley’s Physics Department, will share the 2014 Panofsky Prize with Yifang Wang of China’s Institute of High Energy Physics for their work on the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. The citation reads, “For their leadership of the Daya Bay experiment, which produced the first definitive measurement of θ13 angle of the neutrino mixing matrix.” More>

The next LBNL Integrated Bioimaging Seminar will be held October 2 at 4 p.m. at 717 Potter Street, Room 141. The talk will feature Luis Comolli, Life Sciences Division, who will speak on “Correlating Genomics and Function Through 3-D Cryo-TEM of Intact Environmental Microbial Cells,” and David Knowles, Ph.D., also of the Life Sciences Division, speaking on “Creating Digital Atlases of Embryogenesis.” Seminars are held the first Wednesday of the month and cover diverse topics in the area of bioimaging. More>

Enter the fascinating world of Wildlife Rescue, an eye-opening, inspiring and wildly interactive exhibit. Animals and habitats all over the Earth are endangered. Visitors can get to know some of these species by joining them and the scientists working for their protection on a survival journey — from the recovery center and back into the wild. More>

As part of the group’s 25th anniversary celebration, the Center for Science and Engineering Education has changed its name to the Workforce Development and Education Office. A birthday party held on Wednesday in the Building 50 Auditorium honored participants and volunteers from past and present, and looked at the future directions of the WDEO. A new video that highlights the office’s work and impact also debuted.

In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy’s focus on supercomputing in the month of September, Associate Laboratory Director for Computing Sciences Kathy Yelick talks about why supercomputers intrigue her, how they can help save our world, and why more students aren’t going into computing as a career. More>

Aggregate revenue growth rates for U.S. energy service companies (ESCOs) significantly outpaced U.S. GDP growth during the three-year period 2009 to 2011, according to a new report by researchers in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division. “We anticipate that U.S. ESCO industry revenues could double in size between today and 2020,” said co-author Peter Larsen. “Based on historical trends, it is possible that the industry could grow 8 to12 percent annually depending on a number of scenarios − potentially achieving revenues of more than $15 billion in 2020. More>

From science lectures and exercise classes, to conferences, IT training, and wellness workshops, the Lab hosts numerous activities each day. The best way to track what’s going on is the Lab’s events calendar, which resides on the Today at Berkeley Lab website (upper right corner of page). But employees can also add the calendar to their own calendar to better track the events taking place. Just click the “+Google” icon at the bottom of the calendar. Do you host events? Sponsors are invited to add their events to the Lab calendar.

Using ALS Beamlines 10.3.2 and 8.3.2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently investigating how biochar sorbs environmental toxins and which kinds of biochar are the most effective. The possibilities for widespread use have already launched entrepreneurial commercial ventures. More>